Stock watering tank with built-in heating means



p 6, 1957 G. L. RITCH 2,788,783

STOCK WATERING TANK WITH BUILT-IN HEATING MEANS Filed May 11, 1953 IN VHV TOR.

{a 3 w I I Ga /ye AMP/fab- ATTORNEK United States Patent STOCK WATERING TANK WITH BUILT-1N HEATING MEANS George L. Ritch, Harrisonville, Mn.

Application May 11,1953, Serial No. 354,181

1 Claim. (Cl. 126-374) This invention relates to improvements in watering tanks for livestock and including a self-contained assembly for automatically maintaining the water thereof at a predetermined temperature, the primary object being to provide an inexpensive, strong and durable construction requiring little care and attention once the same has been pre-set for continuous operation.

It is the most important object of the present invention to provide a stock watering tank that has a partition therein to set otf a water compartment and a heating chamber, there being an automatic control for the heater within the compartment that includes a temperature control element that extends through the partition and into the water within the compartment for automatically controlling the temperature of the water in the latter.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stock tank having heating means as a part thereof that includes a burner for the coils of the heater operably coupled with the aforementioned control, the coils extending through the partition in communication with the water-in the compartment so as to provide a natural circulation of the water through the coils, and to heat the water in response to the operation of the temperature control element adjacent the level of the water.

Other objects include the way in which a safety measure is provided through a pilot burner for automatically blocking the flow of fuel in the event the flame of the pilot burner is extinguished; the manner of extending the heating assembly through a top Wall for the heater chamber so as to evacuate products of combustion; the manner in which the heater, as well as the compartment of the tank, are provided with doors for rendering the primary burner and the pilot burner accessible; and many additional objects including important details of construction to be made clear as the following specification progresses.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a top plan view of a stock watering tank with built-in heating means made pursuant to the present invention parts being broken away and in section to reveal details of construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view, parts being broken away and in section for clearness.

Fig. 3 is a vertical, transverse, cross-sectional view taken on line III--III of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, elevational view partially in sec- .tion showing one face of the automatic control.

An open top stock watering tank 10, is shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive of the drawing having a side wall 12 and :a bottom wall 14. A vertical partition 16 presents a water compartment 18 and a heater chamber 20, chamber 20 being provided with a top wall 22.

A hollow drum 24 supported by the partition 16 within the chamber 20 by means of a bracket 26, extends through the top wall 22 and is provided with damper 'means 28 designed to permit exhausting of products of combustion and preventing ingress of rain or other elements.

A coil 30 within the drum 24 has an inlet 32 extending through a tube 34 joining drum 24 with partition 16 and an outlet 36 extending through a tube 38 that also connects drum 24 to partition 16. A second coil 40 within the coil 30 has an inlet 42 in the tube 34 and an outlet 44 in the tube 38. It is understood that the inlets 32 and 42, as well as the outlets 36 and 44, are all in communication with the compartment 18.

A control unit broadly designated by the numeral 46, is mounted within the chamber 20 and upon the partition 16 through which it extends just below the top wall 22. A fuel inlet line 48 connects with the control unit 46 and the latter in turn couples with a primary burner 50 within the drum 24 below coils 30 and 40 by a continuation of the line 48 and designated by the numeral 52.

A pilot burner 54 within the drum 24 adjacent burner 50, is joined with the control 46 by a fuel tube 56 and by a thermocouple lead 58. The pilot burner 54 has a bimetallic element or thermocouple (not shown) forming a part thereof, which controls, through the lead 58, a thermomagnet 60 forming a part of the control 46 and operably coupled with a valve (not shown) within the control 46 for blocking the passage of fuel from the line 48 to the line 52 and to the tube 56.

Control 46 is also provided with a valve (not shown) controlling the flow of fuel to the burner 50 and which is in turn controlled by an expansion rod thermostat (not shown) within a tube 62 that is disposed in a tubular shield 64 that extends into the compartment' 18 just below the level of water 66 therein.

The burners 50 and 54 are rendered accessible by a door 68 on the drum 24 and a closure 70 on the side wall 12 of the tank 10.

In operation, control 46 is manipulated to supply the burner 54 with fuel and the latter is lighted, whereupon, by operation of a temperature adjustment lever 72, the burner assembly is rendered automatic. The flame from the pilot burner 54 ignites fuel emanating from the burner 50 when the temperature of the water 66 falls below a predetermined temperature, all as controlled by the thermostat within the tube 62. In the event the flame of the burner 54 becomes accidentally extinguished, the flow of fuel is completely blocked by operation of the thermocouple and the electromagnet 60. When the burner 50 is ignited to heat the water within the coils 30 and 40, water 66 will continuously flow into the coils 30 and 40 through inlets 32 and 42 and flow from the coils 30 and 40 back into the compartment 18 by way of the outlets 36 and 44.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

Structure of the kind described comprising a horizontally elongated, open top, watering tank for livestock, said tank being provided with a bottom, an upstanding side wall, and an internal vertical partition dividing the tank into an open top water compartment and a heating chamber, there being a top wall covering the chamber and provided with an opening therein; a water heater in said chamber including an inner and an outer tubular water coil, each having a lowermost inlet end and an uppermost outlet end, a primary burner and a pilot burner underlying the coil, and a hollow, open ended, heat confining drum around the burners and the coils and passing through said opening to carry products of combustion from the burners out of the chamber; an upper tube and a lower tube interconnecting the drum and the partition, said inlet ends of the coils extending through the lower tube into communication with the compartment, said outlet ends of the coils extending through the upper tube into communication with the compartment, said upper tube being disposed at a level substantially above the level of said lower tube; a thermocouple adjacent the pilot burner; a fuel line extending through the side wall into the chamber and. coupled with the burners; and a. control unit carried by said partition in the chamber and including a tubular shield extending through the partition into the compartment .at a level substantially above and to one side of theoutlet .end of the coil, adjacent. said top of the tank'and below the level of Water in said compartmeilt, an expansion rod thermostat in said shield for controlling the How of fuel to said primary burner and a thermomagnet operably connected with said thermocouple for controlling the flow of fuel to said pilot burner, said side wall and said drum being provided with closures for rendering the pilot burner accessible.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Edminster Nov. 12, 1889 Kelly Apr. 29, 1913 Slauter Dec. 17, 1929 Shurts Feb. 13, 1940 Pitman Aug. 4, 1942 Alfery Jan. 14, 1947 Holmes July 11, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Dec. 10, 1925 

